Toll
by Aiko Isari
Summary: [Xros Wars] AU-Canon,, Pre-Hunters. "The bells hadn't stopped ringing and the person in her -their- dreams was still as fog ridden and bright-eyed as they had ever been. And the name was at the tip of her tongue and forbidden." Akari-centric, Post- At Peace, part two of Gameboard
1. 1

_**A/N:**_ Hi! Look another WIP. I need to stop with the WIPs. Probably not happening. This will be updated as I finish the chapters ahead of it. It's at six, so... progress!

This is for the Quintessential Quoting (Challenge!) and my quote was: "A mistake is simply another way of doing things." - Katherine Graham and the mood was angst. I guess we can see where this is going. Please enjoy everybody. This is for anybody who liked At Peace, but needed a lighter tone. Read and review!

-[XW] AU-Canon. "The bells hadn't stopped ringing and the person in her -their- dreams was still as fog ridden and bright-eyed as they had ever been. And the name was at the tip of her tongue and forbidden." Akari-centric

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><p><em>Toll<em>

1.

They saved the world.

Akari had to repeat those words over and over in her mind until they stuckk like magnets on a refrigerator and they never do.

We saved the world. We saved our home. Shoutmon was the King.

Over and over. They all did it, all saved the world.

But how?

That summer memory faded with the onslaught of school bells and heavy heat and frantic phone calls through time zones. None of them knew, none of them remembered exactly how, and for some reason, none of them really wanted to. A lot of things were lost that day. It was the price of power, the price of doing... whatever it was they had done.

Yet why, on her free Sundays, did she feel alone? She felt unaccomplished. What was she missing? Was there something she needed to do?

During those times, she doodled Cutemon, made up heroic adventures, pulled her brothers out of the garden, but it wasn't the same.

Perhaps, did they lose?

Wouldn't they all be dead?

Sometimes she would smile ruefully at a strangely stuffed bag full of unusual items, care items. She would be able to pack her lunch everyday and a little extra, and not know why she made another set of onigiri or had a special orange juice box.

She would try to throw her big, pink bag away. She couldn't. Just holding it would make her cry.


	2. 2

_**A/N:**_Hey guys! Just updating here and passing on that there will not be the 50+ chapters like Light for this one. this is going to be short, quick and hopefully finished before December. Hahaha, I expect too much. Let me know what you think! Thanks!~

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><p>2.<p>

Some days would be spent helping Yuu with his homework.

Because Nene had left, off to do things and get their father to leave them alone (or whatever her excuse was, Akari had enough siblings to know when one just simply felt wholly inadequate and didn't know what to do about it), she would take on the duty of being the younger boy's friend. Not that it was a duty, really, just something new.

It wasn't the same as that former time, no longer always accompanied by the staccato echo of fast feet against a sidewalk and bright, determined laughter, ready to face a new disaster.

It was much quieter, much more got done, but yet it felt like nothing changed. He was still a little shy, still wielding a great deal of justice. He seemed to notice too, because he would look at the space next to Akari with some befuddlement. Was something supposed to be there? Was someone?

She tried to ask, found the words trapped in her throat, and fell silent.

"Akari-san?"

She offered him a rice ball. "Yeah?"

He took it, fiddled with it, then sighed. "Are you okay?"

"I..." She would think, whenever this question was asked, very seriously about it. Was she okay? Was something wrong? "I... don't know. I feel... weird."

"I'm not a girl," he said automatically, and she laughed.

"Not that kind of weird, Yuu-kun."

Yuu shook his head. "Is it like something is missing?"

She nodded, grinning. "Like there's a hole and no one tried to hide it." Akari stopped, looked at her hands. "Yuu-kun... did we really win that fight? Are we still here?"

Yuu looked at his math paper, at her, and then at the empty space. "... I'd like to hope so, Akari-san. I really would like to think we did." His fingers kneaded against the plastic table. "If we didn't, though... how would we know?"

"How would we even know if we won?"

Akari rested her forehead against her palms. "I don't know." She paused, as if admitting this to a fellow student and former General of an army will destroy her standing in some unholy ranking. "I'm rather scared, Yuu-kun."

He, to what must be both of their surprise, placed his hand on hers. He must have been trying to be comforting, but it failed with how much his hand shook. "So am I."

She didn't care what anyone said, there was nothing soothing about being scared with someone else.

Why don't we remember?

"Well, because you don't want to."

They looked up, heads whipping around towards the study lounge doorway, but all they see is a student walking past, headphones in his ears, humming to himself.

He was nothing, a nobody. No recognition, heck his uniform signified he was at the wrong school in the first place.

Akari slumped back in her chair, head throbbing, eyes burning suddenly.

Then it vanished, and a new pep filled her system. "Come on, you can't distract me anymore. Let's do this so we can get out of here."

His face wore a puzzled frown, before exasperation took its place. "I wasn't trying to distract you!"

"Sure you weren't! Just like my brothers, honestly..."

"Hey!"


	3. 3

_**A/N:** _Thanks for the support guys! And the little issues, Djinni, which I just noticed myself. Oops. I'll fix those as soon as I can. _Light _update later tonight! Enjoy and let me know what you think!

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><p>3.<p>

Akari had a bad habit of dreaming vividly and not even caring about it. They would be fun stories for her family... and someone could tell them better. She knew someone who caught details better than a detective on television and listened until they knew the story better than you.

She knew someone like that... didn't she?

No... that didn't matter.

What mattered was that she couldn't see too well, and that she was dreaming.

Someone chuckled. "Do you really have to know everything?"

That was a strange question. Did she? "I have to know something at least, or I won't be able to move on."

"Move on from what?" The voice teased. It was male. She was sure of that.

"The end of that summer." The words were so immature, so dramatic, but that was the truth. It was fall, cooling to winter, but she still felt stuck in that sticky air at some moments of her life. Then she forgot them, and went right on. But the niggling feelings were just enough to be noticeable, just enough to be discomforting.

The realization struck her and she glowered. "Oi! Were you the one that made us forget?"

"I don't even know what you have to remember!" the voice said, sounding affronted. "Why would I want you to forget what I don't even know?"

"Then why are you here?"

"The same reason you're here," he said, as reasonably as some adults she might know. "whatever that reason is." He laughed. "Sorry about that."

"Well, you're no help at all." She couldn't help it, she pouted, glared, and the expressions were easy, nostalgic. She wore this look often when dealing with this person. But why?

The other only laughed. "That's your own fault." They paused, almost like they were frowning. "No wait... it's not your fault. You're just the spare parts."

They paused again. "Oops that sounded bad, didn't it?"

"Damn right!"

He laughed. "Sorry, sorry! But it's fine! Everything is all right in the end!"

She put her hand on her hips. "It is not all right! I don't know who you are and you make claims like that!"

He laughed again. "That's why I'm saying it's all right!"

"_You don't want to know."_

She awoke to the sound of her alarm and the sun streaming through her window. She cursed, quietly but creatively, and didn't know why.


	4. 4

**A/N:** Hey guys, I think this is the final update of the day. I say I think, but stranger things have happened. Enjoy!

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><p>4.<p>

The air grew colder, thicker, and with it, the feeling of loneliness. She had middle school to worry about, and that meant growing apart. But apart from who? Her friends? Her friends who barely spoke to each other a lot of the time because they didn't have to? Her family, who for some reason seemed to trust her more by herself than even her older sister? The memories?

No, it couldn't be the memories, because there was nothing to forget. There was just something to remember, and on snowy days when there was nothing to think about, she knew about it. Then the very idea of it left her brain and she went to help her mother, or do some homework, not to think of the gap until the world didn't distract her again.

She hated when she remembered she had forgotten something, because there was no way to figure out what it was. The Digimon were gone, and she had no way to contact them. But did she want to was the real question.

If it really was a question at all, what with the fact that it always nagged and brought back images of red.

Yes, red.

Red light, red clothes, blood dripping, so much, so much red.

All of it swum together into a person, a faceless person who maybe always wore a big, childish smile and maybe was just too kind for their own good.

Weren't those people a dime a dozen?

And weren't they always broken in the end?

_Not this one._

But who were they then?


	5. 5

_**A/N:** _Sorry this took so long. Enjoy you guys!

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><p>5.<p>

Akari had taken to sports commentary, though how she knew half of what she did was anyone's guess.

It was fun watching Yuu thrash the competition practically by himself at least. His teammates were there, yeah, but none of them had the _grace _that came from dodging giant bursts of flame or the brightness from knowing weaknesses.

They were _good_, sure, but just _kid _good.

One of them just needed to admit it more.

"Yuu! What the hell, you could have passed it to me, not Fuzushima!"

Akashi Tagiru.

Brash, a little obnoxious, as hard-headed as Yuu himself.

It was always funny to see them argue.

Tagiru was more physical than Yuu, but when it came right down to it, Yuu could flip him bodily over his shoulder and laugh. Akari had seen him do it more than once.

She was sorely tempted to lock them both in a supply closet.

"You mean when you were covered by at least three guys?" Yuu snapped. She swore he was on fire.

Tagiru, all brown hair and young face and blazing passion, was no less vivid in his response. "I could have thought of _something._"

"That would have involved you being able to think."

Akari giggled and for a second the air hummed. It was a familiar beat, loud and fast and hyped up. She jolted straight, and Yuu looked at her, wide eyes and a slowly brightening smile. They thought… they thought and waited… but nothing.

Nothing but a familiar face walking past, spinning headphone and humming a pop song. The face was only familiar from that day, that day where they both were unsettled… by what? By who?

The boy looked at them. He smiled and Akari froze.

"Don't stop on my account," he said, grinning wider. "Just passing through."

He walked on and her heart thudded all the louder.

Akari shook herself. "Who are you?" she murmured, and the lonely feeling returned, thick and raw.

Yuu swallowed. "Akari-san?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know him?"

"No…"

Tagiru looked at the pair of them, well put-out. "He goes to our school, Yuu."

Yuu turned to him. "Really?"

Tagiru nodded. "Yeah. Don't you know him?"

Yuu put a hand to his temple. "I should… shouldn't I?"


	6. 6

**_A/N:_ **Have a good evening everybody!

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><p>6.<p>

Her dream that night was low and wild, not merely foggy and silent anymore, but red hazed and restless. Anxious drumbeats littered the air, dancing below her feet and making her heart thrum.

This time, she could see the boy a little more clearly. He was still smiling, expression looking as serene as the Cheshire cat. "You're making things more difficult for yourself." He tilted his head. "Unless I'm making things more difficult."

"Maybe you are." Her eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

"Who do you think I am?"

"Are you the guy who's been watching me?"

The other laughed. "You ought to be careful if you have a stalker, miss. You're a nice lady, I'm sure. You don't deserve that."

"How do I know you're not the one who's stalking me?"

He laughed again. "Can people normally talk in your dreams? Don't be silly!"

She flushed, fists clenched. "Shut _up_, Taiki!"

For a moment, Akari stood there in the wild of the dream, of the brushing of flames tickling at her neck. The other, still in fog barring the healthy darkness of the skin and the messiness of his hair in the wind. sighed, a blissful chuckle leaving his lips. "That's right," he said softly. "My name _is _Taiki, isn't it? It's too bad you won't be able to remember that."

"What, why?"

"Why do you think?"


	7. 7

_**A/N:**_Hello! I hope to wrap this story up soon. So... here goes! Enjoy and let me know what you think!

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><p>7.<p>

She was starting to hate dreaming. Like ever. What was the point if all she was going to do was forget it? If all her brain was going to do was just say, "Sorry, no answers for you!", why even bother?

"It's a perfectly normal event," her father would tell her when she ranted. Then it shouldn't feel weird to always forget, should it? There was really no point to explaining these sorts of things to her parents. They were probably _willingly _forgetting everything. Adults.

But... maybe she and the others were doing the same thing.

What was it they didn't understand?

"It's a who."

She gave Zenjirou a doubtful look from the sidelines. She had been watching him practice, in return for a listening ear. He slashed down again with a forward step, scoffing.

"How dare you doubt a swordsman's intuition?"

"Because you lost to some random kid in that competition." She grinned with mischief. "Wasn't he apparently a rookie?"

Zenjirou flushed. "It was luck and trickery, Akari-kun! I've trained since then! My mind is sharper, my body-"

"Yeah, yeah you big tough guy." She reached up to swat him on the nose. "What was the guy's name anyway? He's your all-mighty eternal rival, right?"

She expected a scoff, a quick answer, and more rambling. What she got instead was a rather puzzled frown. "That is the conundrum... I don't remember!" He paused to lean on his wooden blade. "I usually try to recall his face during practice... but... it just fades away horribly quickly." He rubbed his forehead. "I am certain he must be a great swordsman, but... to be forgotten is..."

Akari frowned. Zenjirou had a better memory than she did... as evidenced by his old entrance exam scores beating her by a pretty good margin. So how could he _not-_

"Hey... Zenjirou."He looked at her, puzzled. "Is it possible that the two of us are forgetting the same person?"


	8. 8

_**A/N: **_Update time!

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><p>8.<p>

_That boy hasn't been in my dreams for a while._

She supposed she should be relieved, but it probably didn't mean anything anyway, since none of them were any closer to the answer than before.

In fact, Akari felt further away now. It was kind of like being dragged from the theater after the movie was over and not seeing the stinger, the last, conclusive piece of the film that either gave more questions or more answers. Not that she really _wanted _to dream of a boy. Her parents would probably be concerned, or they would be if her grades started dropping. Though she would be concerned if her grades started dropping. Her memories weren't worth a failing grade… were they?

She had seen that kid from Tagiru's school around more often though. He was usually at the games, tapping the beat to whatever tune was in his headphones. Sometimes there was a book in hand, sometimes not. He would always grin at her and Yuu, like he was implying something because they usually walked together.

"We do not," she actually said to him once, mildly affronted, and he had only chirped back.

"I know."

It was the most confusing and disturbing thing ever but what was more bizarre was how he stayed around sometimes and just talked to them after each game. He did watch apparently, because he could correct moves and shots like nobody's business. Tagiru seemed to fawn over him like a peanut-butter drenched dog, which Yuu pushed him off the bench for.

Funnily enough, he was familiar. The boy, she meant, not Tagiru. She knew she couldn't forget Tagiru without a mind wipe or two.

"Hey, who are you anyway?" she finally asked, mentally cursing the second the words flew out of her mouth. She sounded like a _boy _herself, damn it.

The other paused mid page-turn. "Eh… I told you my name already."

"You did?"

He nodded, and there was that smile, careless as always. _As always?_ "Mmhm. Don't you remember?"

"No," she said slowly. "I don't… I don't think so. Maybe… I'm probably just forgetting things."

The other laughed. "Gee, that does wonders for my self-esteem."

She rolled her eyes. "Please, you're fine."

He smiled, but this time, Akari couldn't help but notice that it didn't reach his eyes.

Who… was he?


	9. 9

_**A/N:** _Oh look, the site worked. Yay! Back to your scheduled ridiculousness. Enjoy and please let me know what you think!

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><p>9.<p>

"Hmm… do you like him?"

Akari colored. "Nene!"

Her friend laughed. "Well, it's a legitimate question, Akari-kun. The only boy you talk about at length besides my brother is Zenjirou-kun… and we know _exactly _what's wrong with him."

Akari snorted, taking the girl's proffered soda glass. _Hard to believe that Nene's rare weekend off will be spent with her giving me relationship therapy. _Oh well, she seemed happy about it. It was good to see Nene happy and not exhausted from endless rehearsals, as she always was during phone calls and chatrooms in late evenings. "How am I supposed to like him? He's nice... but nice guys don't last." She didn't know why she thought that, what with her father being a nice guy but the thought of liking this person seemed painfully unobtainable.

Nene tutted. "Kiriha-kun is doing relatively well for himself."

"Nene, Kiriha-kun is a _jerk_."

"He's trying, Akari-kun." She didn't even sound like she believed that, which was what made Akari smirk in triumph.

"Yes, but is it working?"

"Well..."

They laughed. Akari sighed. "Have you remembered the end of the fight?" The question came to her in a passing thought, like it was related to their conversation somehow.

Nene brushed at her brown ponytails, shaking her head. "I can't. I dream and dream, but… nothing. Nothing but golden lights and spinning diamonds. It's almost poetic."

"More like obnoxious," Akari muttered. "At least you remember more than me."

Nene chuckled, tugging gently at her hair. "The Xros Loader may have helped with that, but I don't think it's much. In any case…" She placed her head on her palms. "You believe that boy might have something to do with it."

Not a question. Nene, oddly enough, only asked questions when they might as well be statements.

"The one in my dream? Yes. The guy whose name I can't remember every time I see him? I have no idea. A part of me…" She hesitated and Nene gave her a small nudge. "A part of me thinks so, but doesn't want to know."

"Any clues as to why?"

"Not a one." Akari can't help her grin after that. "Want to go ask him?"


	10. 10

_**A/N:** _Knew this fic would behave itself eventually. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

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><p>10.<p>

"Hello! Nice to meet you!"

This guy could be gratingly cheerful, she thought. He just smiled like there was nothing wrong in the world and that the very sight of two young women was enough to make the clouds poof away. Maybe he was secretly a pervert?

Akari doubted that because seconds later, he stood up and bowed to them both, eyes only lingering on Nene's face for a nanosecond longer as if to memorize it, playfully pocketing his MP3 player. Akari caught a flash of its red casing before it went snug in his pocket. "How can I help you today?"

Nene couldn't help but giggle. "You can help by telling me your name."

The boy blinked. "Hasn't she told you?"

Akari flushed and scratched the back of her neck. "I have a tendency to forget it," she admitted and Nene laughed despite herself. "It's not my fault!"

"Right, right, she's probably just bad with names." The spring in his voice made her think that he didn't believe that excuse in the slightest. She pouted.

"This isn't exactly giving off the vibe of supportive friend."

The three of them shared a laugh, as the boy stood up, balancing on one foot for a second. Akari jolted, head briefly spinning at the familiar movement of shifting from one foot to the other with catlike poise. _When he didn't have his goggles,_ she thought suddenly, without any idea what she was thinking about at all. _He would do that, so he wouldn't blab out whatever it is he wanted to say, it made him focus better._

_It made who focus better?_

"Well, it's only polite that I introduce myself anyway," he said. "New person, nice friend, all of that." He gave a quick, small bow. "I'm Kudo Taiki. Nice to meet you!" As he straightened, he smiled. "Or, nice to see you again, as circumstances may have it."


	11. 11

11.

Her brain splintered, eyes squeezing shut and suddenly Akari found herself dreaming again. The male's voice was different now, a little bit sly, sweet as syrup mixed with vanilla ice cream. The grey eyes glittered red in the pupils, what she could see of them anyway in the grainy world.

"Something wrong?"

The question reverberated, mocking but genuine and how could it be like that? She looked around and the featureless area was now red clouds and colorless abyss and the air thickened with an unruly scent and taste of blood and twisted perfume.

"You,"Akari murmured, half-in wonder.

Taiki nodded, licking his lips. "Un," he agreed well enough. "About time you figured it out. You're a nice lady, but a bit slow with the obvious, huh?"

She grit her teeth. "You left!" Her memories are vague and full of cotton fuzz but of that she is very certain. "You left us here to explain, explain everything!"

"But you didn't have to explain anything," he said, in a voice too patient for her temper. "That's why you forgot. Do you really think I would have left you to clean up the mess by yourselves?"

"Then where did you _go_?"

Taiki only laughed. "To finish the last parts of the gameboard, obviously."


	12. 12

_**A/N:** _Update time! This fic is almost done!

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><p>12.<p>

She was awoken by Nene's shaking, and Taiki was staring at her with only mild curiosity and maybe even concern (She can't tell because she didn't know what was real anymore.) Akari shook her head and tried to smile but her horror was reflected in Nene's expression and she thought with horror that they both know but they don't know _what_. Not enough to give it a name or a reason or an existence.

"Um… did I miss something?" Taiki's voice was puzzled but polite and he scratched his head. "You two… are you two okay?"

Akari blinked, looking up to shout at him that _something _was wrong and he should recognize it! But the words caught in her throat at the blank expression he wore, eyes guileless and almost innocent. That wasn't the exact word, but she could think of nothing else. The eyes in the dream had been grey and red, but these were ordinary.

He didn't know. In the dream, he knew but awake, he… he was just looking at her, normally.

What was going on?

"Sorry," she said, surprising herself. "I just remembered, I've gotta run. Later!" She stood up and bolted, leaving Nene to helpless mutter what were probably apologies but Akari didn't care. She had to get away, had to figure this out.

They had beaten Bagramon, all of them together.

And then Taiki had just… vanished? Laughing at them, laughing as he had when he had lost Shoutmon, laughing mad. Or laughing to pretend that he was perfectly okay, that there was nothing wrong even though something was wrong, something down deep that he couldn't explain.

And that something had tried to kill them.

Why didn't it succeed?

Nene only caught up to her as she slowed down, thinking deeply and almost hitting a pole. She knew Taiki. His strategies only went wrong if he didn't think far enough ahead. If he wanted to kill them, he should have been able to.

Why would he choose not to? To make them forget.

"Because of his stupid hero complex," she said aloud.

Nene looked worriedly at her and Akari shook her head. She was afraid she was going to start laughing.

"My best friend tried to kill us all," she said in a voice bubbling with mirth. "Then he managed to save us all. Now what do we do? We remember."

"Why did we forget?"


	13. 13

_**A/N:** _There are only a couple more chapters left, I'm afraid. And to think, this was just supposed to be a short little bittersweet memory thing. Now it goes between At Peace. I think I'm slightly insane. Oh well, this is fun. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

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><p>13.<p>

There were no dreams for days, none that were beyond the ordinary human things she almost had taken for granted. She wasn't sure how to feel about that.

She went to less games, and while she hadn't told Yuu what was going on, he seemed to know anyway to just keep out of the way. Taiki was usually there, and while he always smiled at her, the vacant curiosity is always enough to make Akari cringe because the memories are slowly returning. Her childhood friend never looked entirely out of focus before. He always seemed to be aware even when he was ignoring everything.

The lack of it hurt to watch.

But the final battle was still a blur, so she had no clue where it was going from here.

On the upshot, Kiriha answered his phone. So at least he's still alive.

Idly, Akari wished for a Xros Loader, because her hands briefly remember sharing one that now isn't there. Taiki must have it but how it get there when she should have it was a question she was afraid to ask.

The last answered question hadn't gone well.

"Why are you running away?"

Once in a while, Taiki would catch her and that would be what he would ask. Most of the time, she would ignore him, hurrying from one place to another, not thinking of the question, not thinking of how much it mattered until later. Later, when her mind turned and Akari wondered what kind of face he was wearing when he asked it.

One day, she would think before falling asleep after tossing and turning for what would feel like days, one days she would answer, even though she could never think of an answer.

And the time she did, the words stuttered on her tongue for minutes more than Akari would have liked. The eyes that looked at her once more felt like the mix of red and grey and attempted murder that she knew them as. There was no cluelessness and that emboldened her to find the answer.

"Are you Taiki?" she asked, noticing he didn't shiver in the fall wind. "Or someone else?"

"Answer my question and I'll answer yours," he said with an innocent smile.

"That _is _my answer," she said and Taiki laughed. The sound sounded like milk chocolate and felt like caked blood.

He lifted up his hand and she's not surprised to see the Xros Loader there, where it needed to be, where, she realized, it was supposed to be. "There's no third option here," he said, and Taiki's voice was almost gentle. "So I am Kudo Taiki, but I'm not the one you know. He's gone, you see. Long gone. The game took him away, and I'm what's left."

"The game?" Akari felt the hair on the back of her neck rise, and she thought of the toying around in a desert, of falling into a red abyss with an absent song in her ears.

"The other player will be here soon. Why don't you talk to him about it? It's all his fault, after all. Your Taiki would be with you, if he hadn't made one simple mistake." The person with her friend's face snorted. "Remember to always read the fine print, Akari."

"Just remember that."

Then he was gone, like he took a step and no longer existed and Akari was left shivering in the wind and realizing that spring was soon and so was summer. That summer was coming around again.

She wasn't going to be dreaming for much longer.


	14. 14

_**A/N:** _Off to bed but this is done so here you are. Thank you to my reviews, lovely followers, friends, and everyone else. School starts in the morning so... yeah. Let me know what you think!

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><p>14.<p>

It was winter, three days after the New Year, and she had to be out in the damn snow. Akari trudged on, avoiding slips on ice and idiots driving through the slush. She cursed under her breath and hurried on. She loved Kiriha sometimes, loathed him others, and wished he had chosen a better day to drop in and tell them all about the issues in the Digital World that he was aware of. Preferably one where he actually bothered to send a car. But whatever, at least she could force him to on the way back.

She dodged into an alley to catch her breath and take a shortcut when the air suddenly seemed to _warp_, twisting from frost and chill to a muggy sky constantly on the verge of the setting sun. Sweat trickled down her forehead and Akari tugged at her scarf. The air was rippling without sound, and she swore that some things were screaming. She took a cautious step forward and then another, seeing now a red and yellow orb that could have been the sun in another explosion of dust. Dread coiled in her stomach and, ignoring the heat, she started to walk faster.

Then a hand grabbed hers and pulled her forward. "You shouldn't be here," Taiki said as he ran ahead of her. "Come on."

"Should you be here?" she managed to ask, keeping one hand on her hat.

He shrugged. "'Here' is relative for me, you need to get out of this world. It will eat you."

"It?"

Taiki laughed. "Time." He kept moving. "i guess he didn't show up, huh? The other player?" The red light twinkled like a nearby star.

"Never saw him."

Taiki sighed as they ran. "That's probably for the best. He's confusing about things just to be a creep."

Akari snorted. "And you'd know about that."

"Learned from the master," Taiki said dryly. Then he paused, and sighed. "i'm just trying to keep you all safe."

"Trying to kill us was _safe_?"

Taiki shrugged and lifted out his Xros Loader. "I didn't say I meant your life, did I now?" A bright light erupted into the sky and he threw her into it. "You don't have much time to wait, don't worry. Everyone has a role to play in what could be the last round."

She didn't have time to ask what would it mean if it wasn't because she was suddenly back in the freezing cold and almost falling into the snow if Nene and Yuu hadn't each managed to grab an arm and pull her up.

"I'm going to _kill _him one of these days," she muttered.

Yuu flinched. "I hope you don't mean me."

Akari managed to laugh. "Don't spout cryptic crap and you'll be fine, Yuu-kun."

Yuu flushed. "I'll certainly try my best to avoid that."


	15. 15

_**A/N:** _Hey guys! I'm gonna go ahead and mark this complete, even though the extra chapter is coming up sometime this week. It's short and it's outside the main story, though still important. I know that's confusing. Bear with me. Thanks for sticking it out through to the end. Please let me know what you all think! Catch you all later!

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><p>15.<p>

When spring arrived, the world warped again.

To be precise, it had warped many times.

Sometimes Akari felt it happen, or saw someone flicker, but it always faded. On warmer nights, her electronics would play up or go out and she would be left in the dark, watching the sparks through her window, like glitches on a game screen. She never went back, no matter how many times she returned to the same spot, no matter how many flashes of humidity and red sun.

Then, running home from exams, she heard the laughter of an old man. "It's a hard balancing act, isn't it?"

Her first thought was to keep coming, but she saw a gleaming golden clock and decided against it. "I need to stop letting my curiosity get the better of me… who are you?"

The old man laughed. "Haven't you heard of me? I'm sure he had to have mentioned me by now. And he's not here, is he?"

Akari shifted back on one foot. Looking at this old guy now, the word "eccentric" summed him up pretty well. Arrows all over his clothes, bandages on his hands, colors everywhere… She shut her eyes to get the odd image out of her head and into focus. "You're being kind of vague," she hedged, getting her bearings back. Almost as unhelpful as Taiki actually, which explained who this guy probably was. She decided not to say so. A couple more random meetings with Taiki had taught her to keep some stuff close to her chest.

"And you're being rather paranoid." The remark was casual from the outside, but Akari knew better than to assume it all was. There was a weird world in another pocket of time. Not a coincidence that she was being bothered now, or at least it shouldn't have been. Or this guy was nuts.

"My best friend tried to kill me for some reason," she said as placidly as she dared. "A lot. I'm learning jumpy is a good idea."

The man chuckled. "Yes, well, to be fair, I was doing the same. I'm sure he'd rather do it then let me bring you to your messy ends."

"You are who I think, then." Her head ached, like a part of this conversation wasn't from her.

The man shrugged. "In a sense, just as you are Hinomoto Akari in a sense. No?"

"In a sense?" Akari snapped incredulously. "I'm right here!"

"Yes, you are," the man agreed, and the clock behind her moved closer, showing its cracked frame. "Here, you are Hinomoto Akari, but are you the same somewhere else?"

"This is something I'm not going to try and comprehend," she decided before she even started.

He smiled. "Oh, but isn't that fun?" Akari glowered at him and he laughed. "Fair enough. Here." He threw a package into her hands. "If you want to play, best get your game controller."

Wary, she took a second to unwrap it, and stared at the contents in bewilderment. "Why would you give me one of these?"

The old man didn't answer, but the Xros Loader turned a gentle orange, almost peach in color.

Akari smiled a little. "Looks like things are gonna be busy from now on."


	16. Extra

_**A/N:**_ Hey guys, here is the little extra chapter for Toll, as promised. The updates for yesterday should be tonight or tomorrow because i got close to finishing and realized nobody saw them that late at night, so... yeah. Please enjoy and check out Bewailing while you wait for the full sequel to At Peace. The game is now set-up. Let's start!

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><p>Extra.<p>

"You really decided to move there."

The old man laughed. "Questioning my madness now?"

Taiki shook his head. "I stopped doing that fourth game. But in all seriousness," The teen crossed his arms, free of the cuff at his ankle, to his own relief. "What are we doing about Quartz?" His expression was as playful and easygoing as Bagramon ever saw it, but the fallen angel knew that didn't mean much of anything. Break a kid long enough and well-enough, anything could be under that smile. "You're the one who let your brother have a say in this game, you should have known it was gonna screw us all in the end."

If Bagramon was insulted by the other's dry tone, he didn't show it. "True, but I'm not playing for a false idol."

"At least fake idols are sure not to be gods," Taiki retorted. "now, quit dodging the question. The thing has already infected one layer of the game. Last time, we took too long and your little 'key item' left it _alive _to respawn and we couldn't reset the board without them. Giving out spare Xros Loaders isn't going to stem it that much."

"You usually don't care." Bagramon reached across the board with one hand to pseudo-affectionately pet Taiki's head. The boy dodged, looking disgruntled. "Are you hiding something?"

"Aren't I always?" Taiki shrugged. "I'd just like this to be the last board. Not all of us have Peter Pan Syndrome."

"You wound me," Bagramon said with mock-pain. "I know you'd miss it."

Taiki's eyes turned abyssal red and pitch black. "More than you'd think." He yawned. "It still needs to end. So put a counter in for Quartz, or I will. And you would _so _hate to be at a disadvantage again, right?"


End file.
